


Fandom Tutorials, Guides & Tips

by earlgreytea68, lezzerlee



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Community: inceptiversary, Guides, Meta, Other, resource, tutorial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4489545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgreytea68/pseuds/earlgreytea68, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lezzerlee/pseuds/lezzerlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A guide to navigating fandom, and using tools to tailor fandom spaces to your needs.<br/>Includes: Archive of Our Own, Tumblr, Pinboard, Accessibility, Privacy, and other resources.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Earlgreytea68 thanks her Tumblr followers for their contributions and suggestions, especially sosaidsaigonsyl, leanoutofthewindow-goldenhair, defractum, darkhorse99, ewebie, extranightlycow, bethagain, queenofonions, annoyinglittletwit, katherynefromphilly, youcantsaymylastname, ladyprydian, auntbabe, missdaviswrites, usa-nglophile, and shellysbees.
> 
> Lezzerlee would like to thank The Daily Dot, and awesome people on her feed who post super interesting tips and tricks.

Fandom is always evolving and changing. As fandom grows, it often spreads it's wings across many platforms. Trying to keep up can be a difficult task. To try to make it a little easier for fans to use some of the most popular, or useful current fan spaces, we've created this guide. It's not completely comprehensive: fandom is too vast for that. But we hope it helps even a few people branch out to new spaces, or use current spaces more easily.


	2. AO3

Whether you’re new to fandom or just new to fandom in the Archive of Our Own (AO3) era, finding your way around the fanwork-hosting website is invaluable. Not all fandoms live on AO3, but many do, and it seems like more fics start moving their way over every day.

 

**What is AO3?**

[AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/about?language_id=en) is a non-profit and non-commercial site dedicated to hosting transformative works (lots of important words for copyright law purposes in there!). What I think a lot of people like about it is that it’s got a usable interface that usually only gets tweaked to add improvements (looking at you, Tumblr), and there are no ads for you to deal with. This means that they will sometimes ask you for donations, but it’s not an off putting amount of times.

 

**How do I even get started?**

First things first: You can poke around AO3 without logging in but having an AO3 account lets you really take advantage of all of AO3’s features. AO3 is still in beta mode, which means they’re trying to manage the rate at which they grow, which means you need an invite code to get on. Never fear, however: [Some people have AO3 invite codes](http://a-forger-and-a-point-man.tumblr.com/post/123247461418/inceptiversary-participants-i-have-ao3-invites) they are [happy to give you](http://inceptiversary.tumblr.com/ao3invite) , and if not, [requesting a code is easy](http://archiveofourown.org/faq/invitations?language_id=en#howtogetinvitecode).

 

**I’ve got my AO3 account. I want to find some stories to read now. How do I get started?**

Good question! One of the things a lot of people love about AO3 (as opposed to, say, LJ) is that it’s easily searchable. AO3 is devoted to going through and trying to standardize tags, so that you can find fics you’re looking for easily (unlike trying to search Tumblr tags sometimes). (This doesn’t mean, by the way, that AO3 is intrusive about your tags, just that sometimes they try to clean them up, and you’ll see autofill tags that you should use. More on that in the posting segment.)

[Here’s a guide to how to get started in your AO3 searching.](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/81422323857/foolproofpoem-i-did-a-thing-i-saw-too-many)

That search guide tells you how to make sure that your search excludes certain tags, but [you can also accomplish the exclusion of certain characters or pairings through filtering](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/70162850003/7-step-tutorial-on-how-to-filter-out-characters).

Basically what I’m saying is that if you want to find that completed longer-than-100K-words coffee shop AU with your OTP but no mention of your nOTP, AO3 is there for you. If it exists. If it doesn’t exist, well, now you know that you have to write it.

Once you’ve gotten some search results, you can sort by kudos, hit count, comments, or bookmarks. Sometimes that’s handy if you’re new to a fandom and just want to start with the “bigger” fics.

Once you have tags you know you’re going to want to use a lot, you can favorite them by clicking on a fic that has one of them and clicking on the “favorite tag” button in the upper right. Those tags will then show up on your AO3 homepage. You can click on them to quickly see any newly posted fics. You can also use a [tracking script](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/124433849856/ao3org-deanyoulater-ao3-userscripts-more-info) to track your favorite searches and run through them to see if anything new has popped up.

 

**I’ve found some fics to read, but I don’t have time to read them all. What now?**

As you start finding fics that you want to read, you can use the Mark for Later button to save them if you don’t have time. When you go to your History (accessible from the dropdown menu when you hover over your username on the top right), you’ll be able to see those fics you’ve Marked for Later.

If you’re going to be offline, you can also Download the fics using the button on the upper right to a different format that you prefer (for instance, you can download a MOBI file if you’re reading on a Kindle).

 

**I’ve found some fics that I absolutely love. What now?**

Once you start finding fics you love, you can Bookmark them, so that you can find them again quickly (you can also Bookmark an entire series; if a fic is part of a series, it will tell you in the header, and you can click on the series name to see the whole series and progress as you will).

If the fic is in progress, you can Subscribe to the fic in the upper right. This means you’ll get an e-mail whenever the fic updates.

If you just really love the fic’s writer, you can click on the writer’s name to be brought to the writer’s homepage, where you can see all of the writer’s other works and Subscribe to the writer, so that you’ll get an e-mail every time the writer updates. If the writer writes in multiple fandoms, [there’s a script you can use to try to control which notifications you get](http://ao3some.dreamwidth.org/9441.html).

Also, if you love a writer, you can spy on that writer’s bookmarks to find other fics that you might absolutely love. Simply click on the writer’s name and then click on Bookmarks on the left-hand side. You can also use this trick on other users. See a username in the Comments or Kudos of all of the fics you love and suspect you might have similar taste? Click on their name and then on their Bookmarks. (You can also follow your favorite AO3 people on, say, Tumblr. If you click on their name and then on Profile, they will sometimes list their other social media accounts if they want to hang out there.)

The other thing you should try to do if you love a fic? Leave a Kudos (warning: you can only do this once for each fic! Alas! You’ll get a passive-aggressive smiley face if you keep trying). Use the Share button to quickly rec it on Tumblr or Twitter. Or leave a comment! Writers love to get comments, trust me. We get notifications every time someone comments on our fics (we get Kudos roundup notifications, too), and it always brightens a writer’s day to hear that notification. Treat the writer as you would wish yourself to be treated—with kindness, affection, and squee—and you should be fine. Inceptiversary is having a [Feedback Challenge](http://inceptiversary.tumblr.com/post/124087205409/feedback-challenge-do-you-have-a-favorite-fic-you), so that can get you started! (Comments, btw, can also be a great way to make friends with other readers!)

 

**This is all so great, I want to start writing, too! What should I do?**

If you’ve already got stuff hosted somewhere else, you can try using AO3’s [Import Work function](http://archiveofourown.org/faq/importing-and-mass-editing?language_id=en#whatisimporting), on the upper right of your homepage, under Post.

Otherwise, you can just [Post a New Work](http://archiveofourown.org/faq/posting-and-editing?language_id=en#postnewwork). The form AO3 uses walks you through the process. Sometimes there are some little technical glitches (some of my works won’t mark themselves as finished, or will lose the chapter count, I have no idea why), but for the most part it works beautifully!

Please note that you can, if you wish, lock your work so only registered AO3 users can see it, and you can also disable anonymous commenting if you prefer.

Note also that you can write multi-chapter fics or you can post interlocking fics into a series. If you need to re-order the fics in your series, click on the series name to get to the series homepage and click Reorder Series in the upper right. (If your work is really long, lots of readers really prefer it to be broken up into smaller chapter chunks. It helps with some browser reading, apparently. Also, posting a long work in chapters ups your hit count, as people hitting the fic for each chapter adds to the count.)

Also, if you’re smart and clever, you can write your own Skins for your works.

If you’re already posting you fics on FF.net and want to start cross-posting to AO3, too, it’s easier to upload and format on FF.net, then copy/paste from the editor on FF.net to AO3; it will keep formatting and line breaks that were added.

What if you want to post, but don’t want your name attached to the work? AO3 has an option to [orphan your work](http://archiveofourown.org/faq/orphaning), thus keeping them online, but removing authorship. Be careful, though! This cannot be undone.

You’ll note that one of your options is to post to a collection. That’s mimicking ye olde LJ ficfests of yore. So, for instance, [Inceptiversary has a collection you can post to if you’re jumping in now](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Inceptiversary).

And, if you’re looking for inspiration, [Inceptiversary also has a prompt meme on AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Inceptiversary_Prompt_Meme/requests)!

And if you’d like to find a beta to look over your work (not required, but can be great fun and improve your writing!), [Inceptiversary can help](http://inceptiversary.tumblr.com/post/122183889238/so-im-totally-excited-for-inceptiversary-but), or [there’s an entire Tumblr devoted to that](http://betafinder.tumblr.com/)! (Btw, volunteering to be a beta can be a great way to get involved in fandom even if you don’t feel like you’re a writer!)

 

**Ugh, what about plagiarism?**

If you’ve found a work on AO3 that you think plagiarizes you, [AO3 has a procedure](http://archiveofourown.org/tos#IV.E.).

 

**Does AO3 have an app?**

[No. So if you’ve found one, it’s not official.](http://earlgreytea68.tumblr.com/post/124708518321/reminder-any-ao3-apps-you-might-find-in-your-app)

But if you’re reading on a tablet, the advice is to use reader view in your tablet browser for a much nicer reading experience.

 

**What about other cool things?**

[AO3 has lots of those](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/101356887129/cool-stuff-faq-archive-of-our-own)!

Check out the page AO3 has of all some [3rd party tools](http://archiveofourown.org/faq/cool-stuff?language_id=en#coolstuff) people have made to make using AO3 even more awesome! You’ll find some really useful features like bookmarklets that allow you to post AO3 links to [tumblr](http://random.fangirling.net/fun/ao3/tumblr_bookmarklet.html), [pinboard](http://random.fangirling.net/fun/ao3/bookmarklet.html), or [dreamwidth](http://random.fangirling.net/fun/ao3/dreamwidth_bookmarklet.html) already formatted! An [AO3 Savior](https://greasyfork.org/scripts/3579-ao3-savior) that allows you to filter content you don’t want to see, and a [Google Doc script](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19eZnBQ4989Dr17v2ODFgE8QWAo9Oahi4USDNS3hOSvM/edit) that will auto format your text into html so you can post formatting to AO3 easily without having to go through their rich text editor. And many options to make browsing AO3 customized to your preferences.

Things not on AO3s cool things list.

The [AO3some](http://ao3some.dreamwidth.org/) dreamwidth community has some awesome tools! Including this IFTT recipes:

[Use IFTTT to hack a "Works by Author in a Fandom" subscription](http://ao3some.dreamwidth.org/9441.html) (get emails only when they post in fandoms you like)

[Automatically post newly posted works from a fandom to tumblr using an IFTTT recipe.](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/123433770202/setting-up-ao3-feeds-on-tumblr) (Theoretically you could customize this to post your own fic to your tumblr automatically by adding in a keyword for author name)

[Greasemonkey scripts for marking AO3 fic as kudosed, seen, unseen](https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/5835-ao3-kudosed-and-seen-history)

For most of these cool things, you’ll need to use a browser that supports extensions, like [Chrome](https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html#brand=CHMB&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk&utm_medium=ha) or [Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=sem2015Q3&utm_term=download+firefox&utm_content=action2).

 

**What if I forget all that I have learned today?**

AO3 has [a great FAQs page](http://archiveofourown.org/faq?language_id=en), and clicking on the little question marks that you see scattered around as you navigate the website can also give you information about those particular features. They also have a [tutorials page](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts?tag=5) of their own where you can learn more about how to use AO3 features.

 

 


	3. Tumblr

Tumblr is awesome, and I probably don’t have to explain to most of you why. Many of you know that it’s a great place to get a constant stream of interesting content into your eyeballs. It’s not only a fandom hub, but can be a news hub as well. Posts on tumblr will often have [commentary and information](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/95614332146/perchancetodance-im-so-sorry-i-just-need-to) from real people on some of the most current events, from entertainment, to politics, to science. It’s a place where you can get [perspective](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/115686378807/fegeleh-fegeleh-ive-compiled-a-huge-google) outside of what the corporate news, media industry are going to shove down your throat. If you follow the right people, tumblr will give you the information on [things](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/96380056712/pro-choice-or-no-voice-the-importance-of) the education system won’t provide.

It’s also a great place to just see pictures of cats, or beautiful artwork. And unlike other [popular content aggregation sites](https://www.reddit.com), it’s also a place where you can customize what content comes onto your feed, allowing you to try to create as safe a space as possible, while still seeing new stuff every day.

So you’re ready to use tumblr?

 

**First, let’s talk about some Do’s and Dont’s.**

The #1 rule is **don’t post hate.** Just don’t do it. Do not send hateful asks. Do not tag hateful posts so that people looking through the tag run across your vitriol.

But saying that, it’s totally cool to have difficult discussions, to call into question problematic aspects about fandom, media, and  life in general while reblogging on tumblr. When you want to discuss things that may upset other people, it’s common courtesy to tag posts appropriately so people can block things that may upset them. We’ll talk about how to block tags a little later.

 

**Tagging Posts Appropriately**

You should tag content that can be triggering, or generally upsetting! It’s especially important to tag for extremely sensitive topics like rape, and for content that is not appropriate for all settings (like work). You can format your tags as you want, and your followers will learn your style, but many people tag with #tw: keyword (t = trigger, w = warning, keyword is the phrase you would tag) and example would be tw: gore. Some tag with cw: keyword (content warning) some tag with very specific tags they’ve made up just for their followers. So long as the keyword gets put into a tag, whether or not it has a tw, or a cw, or anything, you’re golden! Blacklisting “gore” should blacklist “tw: gore” and “cw: gore” and “content warning gore”, or any variation of.

Here are just a few common Tags for filtering. The more you use tumblr, the more you’ll pick up what content needs tagged for, and how people commonly tag for it:

  * ableism
  * abuse
  * animal abuse
  * blood
  * body horror
  * character death
  * child abuse
  * content warning
  * cw: rape (and all variants of the cw: keyword format)
  * fandom wank (often using the name of the fandom, such as “inception wank”)
  * flashing gifs
  * flashing lights
  * gif warning
  * gore
  * loud noises
  * murder
  * nsfw (not safe for work)
  * porn
  * racism
  * rape
  * real life death
  * self harm
  * sexism
  * sexual assault
  * slurs
  * strobe
  * suicide
  * trigger warning
  * tw: keyword (and all variants of the tw: keyword format)
  * violence



But triggers are not all you should tag for! I’m a firm believer that tagging your content keeps your followers (and you happy). Say you have a friend in fandom. You both love Inception so much! You want to follow each other and reblog all the inception you see. But now your friend is in a [fandom you despise](http://lolahardy.tumblr.com/post/125737795394/great-reasons-to-tag-your-fandoms)! Oh no, look at all that stuff you hate on your dash! If they were tagging it properly, you could blacklist it! Then you wouldn’t have to see the content you dislike, but still get to follow your friend!

But wait, there’s even more benefit to tagging! If you tag your posts consistently, you can search your own blog later to find that content again. I’ll give you an example. I reblog a lot of art tutorials, because I want to learn how to draw better. If I tag each art tutorial I reblog with the same tag, I can then search tags on my own page to find all those posts.

To search a tag on your own blog, simply go to your tumblr page and add /tagged/keyword to find those posts. It’s ok to use spaces in the url bar, but you could also replace that with dashes. Here’s two examples:

Typing in http://yoururl.tumblr.com//tagged/two words will auto direct to http://yoururl.tumblr.com/tagged/two%20words (that “%20” is just how the browser reads a space)

But you can also put in http://yoururl.tumblr.com/tagged/two-words to get the same page.

 

**Things to know about tags**

It is not a good idea to tag with slashes. Tagging pairings such as arthur/eames makes the browser think they are separate, nested pages. It’s common to tag a pairing with an x in between instead (arthur x eames). Some people don’t add spaces (arthurxeames). And some people make portmanteaus of their favorite pairings (armes).

Capitalization doesn’t really matter when creating tags for searching.

On tumblr it’s okay to hold full discussion in your tags. It’s like talking under your breath, not adding a caption to something because it’s not important enough to pass along, like a stray thought, or a joke.

But keep in mind, only the first 5 tags you post on original content will be show up when using the old tag search (http://tumblr.com/tagged/keyword) on tumblr, though tumblr’s regular search bar and url should show all content (http://tumblr.com/seach/keyword). That means you should try to tag the important things first, like the fandom and pairing, etc. so people can find it!

 

**What happens if I don’t tag, and I want to find a post later?**

That’s fine. It’s a little more difficult, but you can always search your page as well. Even if you only remember a keyword, about the post you want to find, type in your url like this: http://yoururl.tumblr.com/search/keyword

 

**Let’s talk Do’s and Don’ts more!**

Do reblog instead of favoriting. Yeah you can heart things, but when you reblog them, you share them with others. (This is not the same as reposting. A repost is when someone downloads the images and re-uploads them as a new tumblr post, thus implying that they created the work, or taking the credit and attention from the original poster/artist). That means the original poster’s content gets spread. It can make a huge difference to them, especially if they are putting out artwork, or fanfic. Reblogs directly lead to comments, commissions, and general enjoyment! Also, you can’t search through your faves in the same way you can when you reblog, so reblog, and tag, and make everyone happy!

Do pick a theme that’s [easy to read](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/98207811406/juno-magic-lezzerlee-sadboybrigade), and easy to navigate! You have no idea how many themes are out there that have no way to get to page 2 of your content (or it’s very hard to find the button, or it’s off screen on laptops), or that nobody can read, or are too busy with background images to see content. There are so many options for themes out there, but picking a theme that functions well over a theme that is just pretty is going to pay off for your followers. (And hey, many very user friendly are just as pretty!)

Don’t autoplay music on your blog! I cannot emphasize this enough. It’s jarring to many people, can trigger panic attacks, is generally annoying, and is [considered one of the worst things](http://www.punkchip.com/autoplay-is-bad-for-all-users/) sites do for user experience. The World Wide Web Consortium (the thing that decides what is standard practice for the internet) says not to autoplay music! It’s okay to have a music player, but turn autoplay off. Let your followers choose to play music on your page for themselves.

[Don’t delete creator’s captions!](http://uglyfun.tumblr.com/post/115996745394/heres-why-its-not-cool-to-delete-an-artists) You are removing author’s/artist’s intent when you do this. Even if their caption is “This is dicks,” removing it changes the way the piece is interpreted, and often deleting captions deletes artist promotions. Even though [Tumblr recently made it easier,](http://support.tumblr.com/post/125445057067/one-legitimately-weird-thing-about-tumblr-is-that) Don’t do it!

Do reblog lots of cats. And puppies. And cute animals. Everyone loves at least one cute fuzzy animal-y thing.

 

**Now let’s talk about Tools & Techniques**

[Xkit ](http://xkit.info/)is probably going to be your biggest friend, despite the fact that it isn’t being worked on anymore (let’s hope that changes). Tumblr likes to [change its code all the time](http://www.dailydot.com/geek/tumblr-meltdown-over-dashboard-changes/), so some features of xkit my stop working in the future, but many of those features are so worth it while it lasts. Check out [Xkit’s features](http://xkit.info/seven/features/) and this [tumblr tips guide](http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/tumblr-tips-xkit-help-how-to-guide/)

 **Update:** Some developers have decided to take over Xkit's development as much as they possibly can. Check out [New Xkit](http://new-xkit-extension.tumblr.com/). I haven't been able to test it as of yet, but I will try to edit this if things work!

 

**Some key things you can do with Xkit:**

Each Xkit feature is a module, which means you can install as many or as few as you want to customize the way you use tumblr.

 **Blacklist:** Block any words/phrases so you don’t see that content on your dash. Triggered by some forms of content? Just don’t like some pairings? Your friend is in a new fandom you hate, but you don’t want to unfollow them? Blacklist will hide posts containing the words you blacklist from you (though you have the option to click to view them anyway. Be warned, this only works if has text or tags. But hey, maybe things you want to see will use tags you don’t want to see. That’s okay! There’s also a Whitelist. This will override the blacklist that will otherwise have been blocked. So you don’t like gore? Cool. But maybe you don’t mind so much if it’s gore and your favorite pairing. Maybe you just want to see your OTP no matter what. Add them to your whitelist and you will see them! Want only this feature, but not the heavy x-kit extension? Use [Tumblr Savior.](http://bjornstar.com/tumblr-savior)

 **One Click Postage:** Hover over the reblog icon and xkit will open a box where you can add your tags and captions and reblog without ever leaving your dash.

 **Quick Tags:** Create bundles of tags to quickly add them to your post (this can only be used with One Click Postage at this time).

 **Auto Tagger:** Automatically tag certain types of posts with a tag, every time. (Be warned, this can be buggy and may use an old tag despite you changing or deleting it.)

There’s too many features to focus on each individual one. I suggest trying some out to see if you like them.

 

**Here are some other tumblr resources to help you use Tumblr to it’s full advantage!**

**General Tips:**

[Tumblr’s Help Page](https://www.tumblr.com/help)

[Tumblr’s Tips Page](http://www.tumblr.com/tips)

[Hello From Tumblr](http://hellofromtumblr.com/) (Tips & News)

[Tumblr basics/Tips Guide](http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/tumblr-tips-xkit-help-how-to-guide/)

[Tumblr Keyboard Shortcuts](http://perchancetodance.tumblr.com/post/65149374545/bardofspades-mituna-senpai-what-if-every)

[More awesome tumblr functions](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/48185115780/saucefactory-apriki-a-couple-of-tumblr)

 

**Making Graphics, Gifs, and fanart:**

[How to Make 3D gifs on Tumblr tutorial](http://www.dailydot.com/technology/how-to-make-3d-gifs-on-tumblr-tutorial/)

[Tutorials for Artist](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/92576945406) including Software tools, Drawing resources for Anatomy, Poses, Coloring, eBooks, and Inspiration.

[Create fake social network conversation images masterlist](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/96228938788/fake-social-network-masterlist)

[List of Artist Tutorials](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/27082076064/tutorials) and other random tutorials.

[Overlay Gifs Tutorial](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/27081945036/tutorial-overlay-gifs)

[Other Gif Tutorials](http://perchancetodance.tumblr.com/post/57790393766/gif-tutorials)

[Public Domain Sherpa](http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/), [British Library Public Domain](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/125642745950/medievalpoc-link-to-article-link-to-british)

[Kyle T Webster’s photoshop brushes and presets](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/96602139021/kyletwebster-reblog-for-a-chance-to-win-time), used by artists at Disney, Dreamworks, Sony, Google, Marvel, and Rockstar Games.

 

**Blocking, Content settings, and reporting abuse.**

[Report people who repost/steal your content!](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/125639959301/attention-tumblr-artists)

[Get help with Anon-Hate](http://hate-help-hotline.tumblr.com/)

[Info on social settings including disabling anonymous asks, and blocking users.](https://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/social)


	4. Pinboard

[Pinboard](https://pinboard.in) is an amazing bookmarking tool, that will allow you to organize, search, and access your bookmarks from anywhere. It’s so much better than just bookmarking on your browser, even if [chrome syncs ](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/165139?hl=en)them when you log into chrome on multiple devices. Pinboard let’s you add detailed notes and tags to your bookmarks. This can come in extremely handy for searching for things later. If you upgrade your account, you have the ability to save archives of the pages you bookmark, which is a lifesaver when those pages get deleted in the future.

Not only that, but it has functionality for saving content to read later, much like [pocket](https://getpocket.com/) (which is a good alternative) or [instapaper](https://www.instapaper.com/). While Pinboard doesn’t have an official mobile app, there are some good third party tools for using pinboard on your phone.

Also, you should follow the [pinboard guy on twitter](https://twitter.com/pinboard) for a dose of dorky snark, analytics, humor and news.

 

**Tips & Tools**

A really [awesome guide](http://www.macstories.net/stories/how-i-use-pinboard/) on getting the most out of pinboard.

Pinboard’s “how to” [tutorial page](https://pinboard.in/howto/)

[Pinboard resources](https://pinboard.in/resources/)

I highly recommend the AO3 to [Pinboard bookmarklet](http://ao3some.dreamwidth.org/9126.html) that will allow you to easily port AO3 links to pinboard including descriptions and tags. (You still have to do them 1 by 1, but clicking a button is pretty easy)

[Pinboard for Nerds](http://www.macdrifter.com/2011/10/pinboard-for-nerds.html) (Tips and features)

[Yet More Pinboard Tips](http://www.macdrifter.com/2012/12/yet-more-pinboard-tips-again.html)

[A beginners guide to pinboard](http://shawnblanc.net/2013/09/pinboard-guide/)

[Pinboard IFTT recipes](https://ifttt.com/recipes/search?q=Pinboard)


	5. Accessibility Tools

We know that accessibility is very important to a lot of fans, so we’d like to share some tools we’ve come across that can make using the internet a little better. This isn’t a comprehensive or vast guide by any means, but hopefully a few of these tools are helpful.

[Chrome Extensions for Accessibility Masterpost](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/124447327522/chrome-extensions-for-disabilities-masterpost)

[Open Dyslexic](http://opendyslexic.org/) a font specifically designed to help those with dyslexia.

[f.lux](https://justgetflux.com/) for mac and [g.lux](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/glux/hinolicfmhnjadpggledmhnffommefaf) for chrome. f.lux for mac tints your entire screen for use in the evenings, helping with eyestrain and sleeping. g.lux does the same, but only for the chrome browser.

**If you are creating work for fandom, please consider ways to make your content more accessibility friendly!**

[Add Transcripts to your embedded media](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/91616601576/psa-embedded-media-in-fics-on-ao3-and-elsewhere)


	6. Privacy

Privacy can be very important, but hard to achieve. Being online exposes you and your personal details more than you think. Sometimes, even the sites we encourage you to use, will [jeapordize your privacy](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/40211834148/this-is-not-a-secure-platform). The key to being successful online, is to be aware of how much privacy you give up by participating. Big internet companies thrive on data, and track everything you do. Sometimes that can be dangerous for you. People search for really sensitive topics, like medical information, support groups, etc. It’s extremely easy to find a person’s address, place of work, and other information. Huge companies keep all that data. As many of us know online harassment can be a huge problem. [The EFF](https://www.eff.org/) is a great resource for privacy information, and rights, and [Epic](https://www.epic.org/privacy/tools.html) has a list of useful tools.

 

**Here are some tools to help make online privacy easier:**

[5 Alternative Search Engines ](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/33632089945/msloveonelove-callmesandie-5-alternative)That Respect Your Privacy I Use [Duck Duck Go](https://duckduckgo.com/about)

[JustDelete.me](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/114809792043/adventuresofjimmyneutron-futurejournalismproject) is a directory that allows you to permanently remove yourself from different web services such as Facebook, PayPal, Amazon, etc.

[Undox.Me](http://www.undox.me/) Take down your pics, take back your life. A DIY guide to removing images posted without your consent.

[How to disappear online](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/75575134645/sweetsugaryshock-beben-eleben-for-future)


	7. Other Useful Tips and Resources

[How to Praise Authors and Influence Fic Creation](http://scribblscrabbl.tumblr.com/post/117465203239/how-to-praise-writers-and-influence-fics)

[Leave Comments (A fanfic authors Plea)](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/109844671728/humansrsuperior-hopedreamlovepray-for-the)

[Fanlore](http://fanlore.org/) \- Fanlore is a collaborative site by, for, and about fans and fan communities that create and consume fanworks.

[Find a Beta](http://betafinder.tumblr.com/) (all fandoms)

[Where to find good fanfic porn](http://www.dailydot.com/culture/where-to-find-good-fanfic-porn/)

Create your own free chat rooms: [tlk.io](https://tlk.io/), [e-chat.co](http://www.e-chat.co/), [chatstep, ](https://chatstep.com)[hipchat](https://www.hipchat.com/), [tinychat](http://tinychat.com/), [chatzy](http://www.chatzy.com/), [mibbit](https://www.mibbit.com/), [rabb.it  ](https://rabb.it/)

[How to avoid Spoilers online](http://www.dailydot.com/technology/how-to-avoid-spoilers-online/) and [Silencer](http://www.silencer.io/), savior for the entire internet

[60 awesome search engines for serious writers](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/post/98892665364/bigbraingene-60-awesome-search-engines-for)

[Get more out of your google searches](http://www.hackcollege.com/blog/2011/11/23/infographic-get-more-out-of-google.html)

[Art Resources](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/tagged/art-resource)

[Writing Resources](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/tagged/writing-resource)

[Drawing Resources](http://lezzerlee.tumblr.com/tagged/drawing-resource)

[Jinjurly Podfic Repository](http://www.audiofic.jinjurly.com/)


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